Epic DIY fail...

[John K]

We’ve all got irrational things that ‘set us of’, one of my many irrational hatreds is ‘ticking pipes’.

 

You know, when at any sticking points over joists etc the expansion (either when heating up or cooling down) in copper hot water or radiator pipes causes them to stick then jump when the expansion tension pressure gets too much.

 

And then you get a clonk, or spring or tick which can really echo round a quiet house at night.

 

Well...

 

The bathroom sink / shower supply hot water pipes did that. And cos I would wash my face last thing then go to bed, the ticking on cooling could last 30 mins or more..!

 

And really it was driving me mental... So for a few months I’ve been lifting boards and checking there if there was plumbers felt at every joist, crossover etc...

 

I even started to wonder if it was the chipboards expanding against the joists so I have been removing all the screws to allow them to float and not build up any tension.

 

Last night was it, I’d had enough, so every upstairs bathroom, hallway and small bedroom board was lifted and I went over everything, but it was all felted up or all the boards were loose...

 

Grrrrrrrr.....! So it must be somewhere else, god forbid even in some brick work...

 

Until....

 

I noticed...

 

That I had...

 

[Suggestions by reply]

 

So I corrected that and had the first quiet night for literally months..!

[Captain Colonial]

A loose screw?

 

Forgotten to take your medication?

 

So many possibilities, you'll have to narrow it down for us.

[John K]

This is the key text...

 

"I went over everything, but it was all felted up or all the boards were loose..."

 

And when I say it was ALL felted up...

[Dave Eastwood (Gadgetman) - Club Chairman]

Too tightly wrapped?

[John K]

Too tightly wrapped?

 

Nope, I used foam between the joists and felt in the notches or holes.

 

But you are right to look at the wrapping...

[John K]

Hint...

 

Don't look at the technical aspects, look at the human stupidity side. 

 

And remember its me, I can be VERY stoopid...

[KugaWestie]

Wrapped the pipes together rather than sandwiching a bit of felt between them?

[Geoffrey Carter (Buttercup)]

Ate you sure it's coming from the bathroom

[John K]

Wrapped the pipes together rather than sandwiching a bit of felt between them?

 

Nope...

 

And this is a big clue - I would never wrap pipes together because of heat transfer between them. 

 

So all the pipes run in their own clear spaces.

 

Ate you sure it's coming from the bathroom

 

1,000% certain. I could sit on the loo, turn the hot tap on and the ticking would start.

 

Then I could lie on the floor and hear approximately where the tick was. As in which circuit of piping.

 

Concentrate on my statement that 'all' the pipes were wrapped...

 

How many taps are in a bathroom..?

[Geoffrey Carter (Buttercup)]

Sorry for offering a suggestion.

[John K]

Sorry for offering a suggestion.

 

Hi Geoff, I wasn't having a pop at your reply, sorry if it looked that way.

 

I was just trying to give clues - remember I've now solved it, just demonstrating to the group what an ass I am...

[Stu Faulkner]

You missed out the bath pipes?

[John K]

You missed out the bath pipes?

 

Nope, there is a bath, a sink and a shower...

 

How many pipes go to each?

 

Can't say more than that without giving it away...

[Stu Faulkner]

Are you talking waste pipes?

[John K]

Are you talking waste pipes?

 

Nope, water supply only - so only the copper stuff